Path of Spirit (Disgardium Book #6): LitRPG Series, Dan Sugralinov [the reader ebook .TXT] 📗

“I must discuss it with my analyst,” the gnome said, turning to me. “What do you think, Blackberry?”

“It definitely seems like a solid offer,” I said.

Mogwai froze, listening with interest to what else I had to say. I targeted him and activated Wheel of Fortune.

Later, Hinterleaf would say that the cell shone with the light of divine presence — that Nergal the Radiant himself had appeared, picked up Mogwai in his mighty hand like a cub, weighed him and placed him back down again.

From my point of view, on the other hand, the walls and ceiling disappeared and Fortune descended from the skies. The goddess appeared not in the form I was used to, of a playful ginger girl in an airy dress, but in the shape that all the rest of Disgardium knew: an elegant mature woman with gleaming gold hair down to her waist. Two shining wings unfolded behind the goddess’s back and she held in one hand a horn of plenty overflowing with coins and gemstones, in the other a giant wheel to which Mogwai was as if crucified.

The Wheel turned, and the druid’s lifeless body fell to the floor.

Fortune has judged the deeds of Mogwai, level 498 druid, with extreme disfavor.

Punishment: Mogwai loses 2/3 of levels gained (total: 332)!

Fortune disappeared, the walls came back. Mogwai twitched on the ground. Numbers fell from him like damage, only it wasn’t health he lost, but levels.

I gestured for the others to move back, and held a finger to my lips. The illusionist mage put up a Dome of Silence and swore:

“Holy..!”

Even Yary couldn’t hold back. He glanced behind the bars, couldn’t believe his eyes, shot a careful glance my way and whispered:

“Bullshit! How the hell..? If this goes public, and Mogwai is sure to talk about it, then the whole game is done. Who will bother leveling up if you can lose it all in a second?”

“You’re a terrible man, Scyth,” Blackberry breathed. I didn’t notice her walk over and place a hand on my shoulder. “Best not tangle with you…”

“Tangle..?”

“Best eliminate him, whatever the cost!” Hinterleaf burst out. “There’s no way this will fly, kid! You’re tearing apart the foundations!”

“Calm, chief, calm,” Yary said. “I’m sure Scyth has an explanation. Isn’t that right, kid? Come on, tell us that was a one-time artifact or an ability with a year-long cooldown.”

“And why Nergal?” Blackberry asked. “What, you and he are friends now?”

“Ha-ha!” I laughed unnaturally. “If it was an ability, you’d all have been back in the sandbox long ago. It was a one-time artifact. Not from Nergal, that part was an illusion. From another god. But, just to reassure you, I’ll tell you: I didn’t know what the effect would be. It’s random whether it lowers or raises levels, and by how much.”

“Ah,” Hinterleaf sighed in relief, glancing with some pity at Mogwai as the druid came round. “Cancel the panic, then. Scyth, if that one-time artifact of yours turns out not to be one-time, don’t forget that we’re your friends.”

With a clank of metal, Yary banged his fist twice against his breastplate:

“For all eternity!”

“And we love you very much,” Blackberry added with a pout and walked off into the shadows.

The level 166 druid pulled himself up, shaking his head. He looked at us unseeing:

“What was that? WHAT?” Mogwai’s gaze dimmed as he read the logs. His face went white. “Are you kidding me, Modus?!”

Chapter 23. Punishment TV

I RETURNED to Mengoza from the Modus castle, then gathered the boys and Irita in the tavern and told them of Fortune’s rewards, and of what I’d done to Mogwai. It wasn’t that they were in shock — they were used to surprises. But they still had to pick their jaws back up from under the table.

Then Infect and I applied to enter the Demonic Games. As it turned out, all that took was answering yes to the message they’d sent through Dis mail. Before the start of the Games, we would all be gathered in the elvish capital, at the palace of King Eynyon, who would bless our journey and open the portal. But that was still four days away.

At first I was worried that Kharinza would be captured while I was gone, but it turned out that global peace was declared for the duration of the Games. Enforced peace. No PvP! Which meant we had nothing to worry about.

In theory, Crawler and Bomber could have tried their luck too, but they had things to do — clan business, raising reputation with Orthokon, insurance against the possibility that we had to catch the legates again. And Eileen was still at large, and we didn’t know what to expect from her. Certainly nothing good.

Alongside Horvac and Hinterleaf, we decided to use one more trap in another Travelers castle, just in case someone found Eileen. Moving a player from point A to point B seemed unlikely to be taken as an act of aggression.

Bomber was focusing on his divine quest chain. The depths would let him return to Kharinza any second if he needed to.

Not knowing how long Oyama’s tuition would go on, I decided to take some time out and sleep for at least a few hours. I logged out of Dis.

A little later, I listened to the news while I ate a late dinner, or an early breakfast. Roj was sprawled out in a chair next to me, staring at the door.

All the Elites had gone dark and into hiding. No online streams, no comments. For a while, the undead scourge was lifted from Latteria, and, as it turned out, from the net. The only thing to remind us of Mogwai was a clip of an enraged Fen firing a shock weapon at an unlucky